1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical sorting systems, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems for sorting wire or other elongated narrow articles from a stream of mixed articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of automated sorting of recycled waste materials, one class of materials which is becoming increasingly important is electronic waste. Electronic waste includes various electronic devices such as computers, printers, cell phones and the like which have been shredded into randomly sized articles, which then must be sorted.
One very valuable and desirable component of electronic waste is the copper wire in the waste.
Prior art approaches to the sorting of wire from mixed waste materials has typically identified the wire either by the color of the material, i.e. by looking for the red copper wire, or by the material composition of the article, for example identifying wire with a metal sensor, such as an inductance sensor or an eddy current sensor.
There is a continuing need for improved methods for the efficient sorting of wire from a stream of articles.